Beehive.



G. G. HAHN.

BBBHIVE. APPLIGATION FILED JULY 21, 1913.

Patented Nov. 10, 1911 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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THE NORRIS PETERS ($0.. PHQTWLITHOU WASHINGYUN. D. C.

G. G. RAHN.

BEBHIVE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 21, 1913.

THE NORRIS PETI'ERS 00.. PHOTDLITh-l. WASNINGYON. D- C To all whom it may concern:

GEORGE -C. HAHN,

or HAILEYBURY, ONTARIO, cANAnA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO MARTIN J. ODONNELL, or CLEVELAND, oHIo.

BEEHIVE.

I Specification'of Letters Patent. Application filed July 21. 1913. Serial 113,780,378.

Patented Nov. 10,1914.

Be it known that I, GEORGE C. HAHN, citizen of the United States, residing at Haileybury, in the district of Nippising, Ontario,

Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Beehives, of which thefollowing is a. specification.

This invention relates to bee-hives and is a division of my application filed January 23, 1913, Ser. No. 743,733, and the invention comprises improvements in super-boxes and super-frames substantially as herein shown and described and more particularly pointedout in the claims.

In general, the ObJGCt of the'invention is to provide the super or surplus box of a bee.-

' hive with a knock-down super-frame to hold the honey-boxes and whereby said honey boxes can be clamped tightly in place and prevented from warping or twisting.

A further object is to provide a super-v frame with a' separate top piece and with supports and fastening devices which will permit the said piece to be removed while thefsuper-frame remains suspended in the super or surplus box, and a still further object is to construct the super-frames and bo'x so that spaced and bracedrelations are.

obtained therebetween and whereby the bees are prevented from gluing the frame to thebox, and permitting convenient placement and removability of the frames.

Another object is to construct the frames so thatthey may come into abutting relations and provide seatsfor removable fences between adjacent frames.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section through a bee-hive showing my improved super-frame mounted therein, and Fig. 2 is a sectional view at right angles toFig. 1 showing a set of super-frames,one of them being shown with its top piece removed. Fig. 3 is a sectional view in plan of two superframes in abutting relations and with a dividing fence between. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the fence. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the several parts which make the complete super-frame, and. Fig. 6 is. a perspective view of four honey-boxes clamped within my improved super-frame. I I

In Fig. 1 the bee-hive is represented by the bottom board 2, the brood box 3, the super or surplus box 4, and the cover 5. Said parts are separable as usual, and the frame 6 suspended therein. surplus box 4 is. open top and bottom and brood box is shown as having a wire-strung The superor has shouldered recesses? at the topof its end walls toremovably seat' the superframes 8 which hold the honey'boxes 9. A seriesof such 'superframes are banked t0- .gether'in box 4: and held in place by bowsprings 10, "see Fig. 2. Each super-frame comprises a body part 11 and arem'ovable" top barlQ-havi'n'g slott d ends 13 adapted to slip over hooks 14. rigidly secured to the upright ends 1 5 of the body 11. I Small wedges 16 are used to clamp the top-bar inplace when insertedinto hooks l't over thebar,

and therethrough one or more-honeyboxes -9 also as the pressure derived from driving the wedges in placeclampsthe honey boxes in place. In fact such clamping assures tight joints, alines the honey-boxes, and prevents them from warping or twisting out of shape. I

I Ordinarily, the super-frames fit snugly againstthe walls of the super-box 4, and the bees fasten these parts together withbeeglue so that difiiculty is experienced in removing the super-frames without jamming or breaking the honey-combs'and thereby cause leakage and loss of honey. In my improved device, the body of the super-frame is spaced apart from the walls of the box and only supported by the hooks 14, the pro-' jecting pins 17 at the outside of the frame uprights 15 serving to guide, center and space the frame in respect tobox 4-. Each frame also has its upright ends 15 widened to come into abutting relations withthe corresponding end of the next frame, see Fig. 3. As thus related the rabbeted edge portions 18 in adjacent frames combine to make a slide-groove or side support for a removable fence 19 toseparate adjacent rows of-honey-boxes 9, and ledges 20 at the bot tom of each super-frame end support the said fences. Spaces are provided between the fences and the honey boxes for the travel of the bees.

The advantages of the foregoing construction are as follows: The top-bar of any single super-frame 'may be readily removed without breaking it and without disturbing others and it is not necessary to remove the super-frame from the super-box 1 to remove any oneor all of the honey-boxes carried therein as the books 14 provide the support for the super-frame. Obviously this is of great utility as one or more of the honeyboxes can be taken out or shifted to other places in the same or other super-frames to obtain more effective working results from the bees in the hive, and the bees can also be induced to work in more than one or two super-boxes high, a result heretofore difiicult to obtain. The bees may also be prevented to some extent from swarming and caused to. produce more comb-honey per colony than with the known super-box organizations. It also happens that. some colonies in the swarming season leave many honey-boxes unfilled or incomplete, but with my invention these unfinished boxes can be transferredv independently or in their frames to other colonies for completion. By means of the wedges it is possible to clamp the honey-boxes tightly in the super-frame, which saves the best time and-labor in gluing them in place, and it also follows that such preventative ofthe sealing of the boxes to the frame by the bees makes it more convenient and easier to remove them when desired and especially without disturbing adjoining boxes. A tight clamping also prevents expansion or buckling of the honey-boxes and prevents the displacement or twisting out of shape of the wax combfoundation which the bee-keeper fixes in the honey-boxes to properly start the bees in their cell-building operations. The wide spacing of the upright ends from the walls of the box also prevents the bees from gluing. these parts together and permits the entire frame to be removed without trouble, and the abutting relations sustained by the frames at their upright ends with the fence seated therebetween contributes to the general object in view of providing an easily separated structure which aid, the bees rather than hinder them in their work and at the same time provide a practical and eflicient device for the bee-keeper.

What I claim is:

1. In a bee-hive, a surplus box and a super-frame for honey-boxes removably mounted in said box having a removable top bar, and clamping means to permit said bar to be removed while the said superframe sustains closely banked relations with other super-frames in the surplus box.

2. In a bee-hive, a super-frame having hanger members and a top bar having slotted ends to removably receive said members and means to clamp the said parts together.

3. In a bee-hive, a super-frame for honeyboxes, hooks for said super-frame, a slotted bar removably engaged with said hooks, and

wedge members to secure said parts together with a clamping effect on the honey-boxes. 4.71m a beehive, a super-frame having shouldered seats to slidably support dividing-fences between banked super-frames.

5. In a bee-hive, a set of super-frames having rabbeted-ends, in combination with fences slidably supported by said rabbeted ends when the said super-frames are banked together.

6. In a bee-hive, a super-frame having widened ends provided with vertical grooves on opposite sides whereby a series of said super-frames may be banked in spaced relations to removably support dividing fences. A 7. In a bee-hive. a super-frame having a top bar projected beyond either end there-' of and provided with steadying projections on said ends, whereby the said super-frame may be supported withina super-box apart from the walls thereof.

8. In a bee-hive, a super-box, in combination with a super-frame having supporting hangers to rest upon the box and having a body spaced apart at its ends from the inner wallsof said box.

9. In a bee-hive, a super bo-x, in combination with a set of super-frames having widened ends and narrowed connecting bars, means to hold said super-frames in tightlybanked relations, fences removably seated between adjacent super-frames, and pins to hold the ends of each frame apart from the inner walls of said super-box.

, In testimony whereof I aliix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE C. RAHN. Witnesses: v

ALICE C. MoQUAnnm, JAMES 'MoQnARRm.

copies of this patent may be obtained for live cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 0. a 

